Why Mario’s Nipples Are Kind Of A Big Deal

Following yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, the internet could not stop obsessing over a glimpse we all caught of Mario’s nipples. His hairless chest and small pink areolas were revealed during a demonstration of Super Mario Odyssey’s snapshot mode where we were blessed with a 2-second picture of Mario running on the shore shirtless on Bubblaine beach.

Of course, the photo went viral all over social media. This was our first ever in-game look at Nintendo’s famous Italian mascot running around shirtless while on the job. And just as one would presume, many questions were raised.

if mario has nipples then why doesn’t yoshi – please nintendo this only raises difficult questions

Leave it to the internet to ask the important questions. But the biggest question of them all is why are Mario’s nipples such a big deal? Just as Samit Sarkar from Polygon pointed out, wouldn’t it be incredibly strange if he didn’t have nipples? Let’s take it back to the time when the internet first discovered shirtless Link in Breath of the Wild. Throughout the entire game, he showed absolutely no indication of having nipples and the general consensus was that it was super weird.
With all that in mind, it seems as though Nintendo is making a bigger effort to appeal to their western demographic than ever before. From teaming up with a huge variety of 3rd party publishers to their new focus on online multiplayer experiences, it seems that Nintendo is casting off its old-fashioned duds. Quite literally, it was a little over a week ago when Nintendo revealed that Mario was no longer a plumber.

Aside from all that, the real reason Mario’s nipples are such a huge deal is that Nintendo is a company known for its prudishness and impeccable modesty. It’s without a doubt that Nintendo is the video game company that holds the torch for being the most kid and family friendly. And while showing off Mario’s smooth pristine chest as he frolics through a beach in Super Mario Odyssey isn’t exactly Rated R material, it’s definitely a big step forward for a company that has routinely censored its Japanese games for its western audiences.Hopefully, this means more progressive strides await us with Nintendo. After all, they finally made the jump into voice chat with their Nintendo Switch Online app, even if it was an itty bitty jump. If what we’ve seen this year is any indication of things to come, then the future of Nintendo looks bright. Almost as bright as Mario’s small, pink nips.